About Us

We Turn Ideas Into Brands

Stellen Design is a boutique graphic design and branding agency based in Los Angeles, CA. We do contract design and branding work for many startups and small to midsize businesses. And not to name names, but a few corporate companies like California Pizza Kitchen.

Your company’s brand is the personification of the big vision inside your mind. It’s your best, 24/7 salesperson. It’s a unifying force that promotes pride within your organization and makes your customers feel understood. In short, your brand is a boss. Translating your sales pitch into a visual language and tone that resonates with your ideal customers is easier said than done. That’s why our branding agency, Stellen Design exists. We take the burden of interpreting your ideas off your hands. Our branding agency specializes in taking a company’s authentic story and shaping it into a visual presence through our practical and thoughtful design approach. If you are looking for a small and mighty branding agency that will handle your branding with love, excitement, and integrity… let’s talk!

We Have Partnered With …

Our Process is Pragmatic

We Listen & Learn
We listen to your goals, 1 year, 5 year, and 10 year, we want to know them all. We want to know where you started, why you started, and what makes you tick. At our branding agency, we want to know what current issues you are facing and what you see for your companies future. We even want to know what kind of dog you have.
We Plan
We are not kidding about being pragmatic. Jordis Small (our branding agency creative director) is a type A planner. We start all our brand, logo, and website projects with a detailed discovery process and a plan of action keeping us both on our path to true North. After all, if you don’t know where you are going, how are you going to get there?
We Wow
We don’t mean to sound full of ourselves, but if all goes according to plan you should say “wow”! Our clients have said, “that is what I had in my head but I didn’t know how to say it”. No, we are not mind readers…but our branding agency’s process makes us pretty close.
A Stellen Design Bonus
Creative Director, Jordis Small, personally handles ALL branding agency projects. Unlike big agencies, you don’t need to worry about getting shuttled off to a Jr. designer while paying big brand agency rates. You get Jordis along with her practical design philosophy that she prides herself on along with her lean and mean design team.
Who We Work With
We work with driven entrepreneurs and growth focused businesses. We have worked with clients in a variety of industries ranging from tech to hospitality.
Ways to Work With Us

Project Basis: Brand and Website projects are done on a per project basis as well as other graphic design specific jobs.

Retainer Packages: Stellen Design becomes your personal branding agency & design team constantly working on growing and nurturing your brand.

Strategy Workshops: If you are still in the beginning stages of building your business, or are unclear on what you need, a brand workshop is the perfect solution. We work closely with you to outline your business goals, define your brand and get you profitable.

Got questions?? Let’s chat!

What is Brand?

Brand is like the brain of your business or organization. A lot of people think it’s a logo, or font choices, or colors… but really it’s SO much more than that. Once you know your brand and how your brand thinks, talks, and acts all the other assets, like the logo, fall into place. Brand will give you the boost of confidence you need to succeed.

What does Stellen mean?

mir vorstellen is the German word for imagine
erstellen is the German word for create

Imagine + Create = Stellen

We Are Small and Mighty.

We are a virtual team of three women, all working remote from 3 different parts of the country. Our brand agency has the ability to scale as needed with great resources for web development, animation, and added design support giving you the perfectly curated team for your project.
We Believe
  • Design should be good, clean, and fun
  • In doing good work for good people.
  • If you do it right, it will last.
  • When in doubt, keep simple, less is always more.
We Are
  • Dedicated to top quality design and branding.
  • Insanely passionate about simple logo marks.
  • California vibes.
  • About as practical as a fanny pack.
We Are Not
  • A pretentious branding agency.
  • White labeling overseas designers.
  • Going for volume of work. Quality over quantity.
  • Your social media person.
Creative Director of Stellen Design Branding Agency in Los Angeles Jordis Small
Jordis Small
Creative Director
Carolyn Packard of Stellen Design Branding Agency in Los Angeles CA
Carolyn Packard
Contract Designer
Carolina Vangilder Administrator at Stellen Design Branding Agency in Los Angeles CA
Carolina Van Gilder
Project Manager / Assistant

Branding Articles

Why brand matters: Decision Fatigue

Have you noticed that we have more and more decisions to make every day? More options to choose from, more channels to watch, more ways to stream those channels, more ways to grocery shop, more ways to get from point A to point B… the

Why does having a brand matter more now than ever?

Brand has always mattered, but in today’s world it matters more than EVER! I want to take a moment and outline why it matters so much and why you can not afford to ignore it anymore.    Decision Fatigue Have you noticed that we have

The Best Brand Colors for Restaurants 

Are you opening a restaurant or questioning your existing restaurants’ exciting brand colors? You might be wondering what the best brand colors for a restaurant are? I have helped countless restaurateurs establish their brands and choose the right colors for their restaurants!   Do you

On The Gram

Quite the fun project @thehulahularoom !!! It felt really good to flex some creative muscle by using a new medium for design!
#tikibar #thehulahularoom #tiki #plantwall #tropical
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I love it when my clients need merch designed too... it takes me back to my roots in fashion and time in the surf industry.
Max's...
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Jordis Smalls of Stellen Design Branding Agency in Los Angeles CA
Jordis Small
Creative Director
Jordis is a big believer in continued education. She makes it a point to attend at least four workshops or conferences a year to keep her skill improving. She is also a big advocate for “creative play” and loves to spend her spare time trying new things and learning new techniques.
Carolyn Packard of Stellen Design Branding Agency in Los Angeles CA
Carolyn Packard
Designer
Carolyn Packard is a seasoned designer with valuable insight into effectively communicating and interpreting design needs to her clients. Carolyn knows the value of creating good, functional design.
Carolina Vangilder of Stellen Design Branding Agency in Los Angeles CA
Carolina Van Gilder
Project manager / Assistant
The coordinator, facilitator and scheduler for all Stellen Design projects. She communicates with clients about everything from contracts and payments to design edits and revisions. She helps keep the logistics on point so Stellen Design can live up to their reputation.